Alec introduces himself to the world
by Daria234
Summary: Logan and Alec have a plan to expose Manticore, involving an Eyes Only broadcast that demonstrates Alec's abilities. Logan/Alec slash


Written for comment_fic on livejournal

Prompt was for Dark Angel, Alec/Logan, What Manticore wants...

What Manticore wants, Manticore gets. At least, that's what Manticore thought.

But right now, Manticore wanted more than anything to cover its ass.

It wanted its secrets to stay secret. And it was going to keep offing transgenics until they were all too good at hiding scared - or too dead- to be an exposure risk.

That was why Eyes Only was editing the tape for broadcast. He watched the footage of Alec demonstrating his skills, and then of course, Alec talking. Logan had tried to get Alec to play the earnest transgenic do-gooder who appealed to the public's sense of compassion and equal rights.

But Alec had said, "Logan, we're supposed to be the honest ones. I'm not going to pretend I'm a saint."

"It's better PR," Logan said, "And besides. Nobody would look at that mouth and think 'pure and innocent.'"

Alec grinned but said, "Flirting will get you everywhere, Logan. In bed. But not for 'the cause,' as you like to call it. I think I need to just be me."

Logan looked skeptical.

Alec continued, "Look, Logan. We both know that it would be better if you taped Max. But she's off on the East Coast, rescuing who knows how many of us. And good for her. And for them. But she left us, Logan, and I'm not ever going to be her, no matter how much you --"

"I don't want her, I just want you -- " Logan paused. Max was a sore subject, and therefore not one that Alec would normally acknowledge. But this time, it had nothing to do with her. Logan wanted to tell Alec that he had to make himself look untouchable. That if Alec was going to risk his own safety for the cause, then he had to make himself so sympathetic the public would be completely outraged if anything 'mysterious' ever happened to that sweet little transgenic boy Alec. But Logan knew that it never worked to demand the right to protect Alec, so he said, "I just think we should be careful how we introduce the issue to the world."

"You mean how I introduce myself to the world. So they see we're individuals, _not _just an issue. And ... look, it's kind of a big deal for me, Logan. I was designed to stay in the shadows. Manticore made me to become whoever would be most palatable to my audience, to be anything except myself. I'm not going to do that now. Not for something this important. This has to be real."

Logan sighed then. He knew that he could probably win the argument if he really tried, could cajole and convince Alec into doing it his way. But Logan wasn't about to take this -whatever _this_ was- away from Alec. It clearly meant too much. Alec got his way.

So now Logan sat in front of the monitors, rewatching all the footage of Alec, trying to decide how to turn the hour of footage into what would basically be a two-minute commercial to for a more inclusive definition of the term "human."

"Hi my name is Alec, and I'm a transgenic. See, if this were a support group, you all would say 'Hi, Alec'

"A company called Manticore created me, under the orders of the government. It was not my choice. But now I'm here. I'm not going to lie and say I've been the perfect citizen. I haven't. How many of us have?

"But all I really want is to find a decent job, and sit back with a few beers and a few friends at the end of the day. And maybe a hot girl. Or two. Or maybe a hot guy. Or three.

"Sorry, guys, my boyfriend's giving me a dirty look so I guess I should change the subject. I can't tell you who he is, but let's just say, he has really, really nice eyes."

Alec winked at the camera then. Rewatching the tape, Logan had to smile. Alec was pretty charming in that moment. It was a shame it would have to be cut out of the final edit.

"So here's the deal. Manticore wants me. First, they wanted me to be a supersoldier. But then a bunch of us supersoldiers decided to run off. Did you hear that? We risked our lives so we could be free. To NOT kill you guys. And yeah, we're strong and we're fast. But we're not bulletproof, and we're sure not out to destroy you.... Basically, we're scared and we're on the run, and most of us don't have a damn thing in this world. Hell, most of us are so terrified that we're afraid to hope for anything but loneliness and rejection.... I know I was, for a long time.... But you should know that we're like you. We're mostly a bunch of bastards who just want to be left alone, who want to build whatever lives we can in this rotpile of rubble we call society. So... thanks for listening. If they kill me for telling you about them, then do your best to remember me, okay? And drunk assholes of the world, please stop picking on transgenics in bars. Every time one of you douchebags gets beat up, it makes us look bad. We're not why your life is messed up, dude. Seriously, you don't see me blaming my problems on inbred fuckwads, do you? Okay. I think that's it. I'm done."

Logan watched it again and again. He had to admit, it was honest. For Logan, who knew how hard it was for Alec to say a damn thing without sarcasm, it felt painfully, brutally raw. Alec admitting fear. And loneliness. Alec wanting to hope, and also not wanting to hope. Logan briefly felt a little resentful that the camera was pulling things out of Alec that Logan never could.

But it was good. _Really_ good. Alec had been right about acting like a regular guy, about not claiming to be better than the rest of humanity.

Alec spoke of ordinary things. But it was clear he spoke honestly. Even a stranger, maybe even some of the anti-transgenic types, would be able to see its truth.

And soon it would be public truth, and then everyone would know the name Manticore.

But everyone would also know the name Alec.

Logan played around with the footage all night. It was _really_ good footage. And yet Logan got less and less excited about it the more he watched. Finally, Logan took out the memory chip and put it in his safe.

He would tell Alec that it wasn't appropriate for the message they were trying to send.

Logan knew Alec would accept the explanation. Alec would nod without argument, and assume that Logan didn't think he was good enough to be the poster boy for the humanity of transgenics. And it would hurt him, Logan knew. I would linger in Alec's mind, stagnating, scraping on Alec's tightly-held fears like a dull blade on rough skin.

But Alec would be safe.

And they would work on a different way to expose Manticore.

Logan tightened his jaw as he went into the bedroom, hoping Alec was awake so he could get this conversation over with. He tried hard not to think about the fact that he was helping Manticore get what it wanted: Alec's silence.


End file.
